The four-day lifespan of a magnolia's blossoms would seem criminal if its host weren't so majestic year-round.

Every part of the stately Southern tree (that can grow up to 40 feet wide) begs to be touched--the dark and glossy evergreen leaves; the caramel-colored, cashmere-soft buds; the satiny ivory petals of blossoms the size of dinner plates; and the oblong seeds that look like cinnamon Tic Tacs.

And that's to say nothing of its scent: lemon-vanilla bean custard.

Once, a small person that I know--who likes to flip over the bough of a neighborhood magnolia with a particularly high canopy--mistakenly called it a granola tree.